It is commonly desirable in biological laboratories to mount tissue sections, or ‘specimens’, to slides for purposes of examining the tissue sections using a microscope, treating the tissue sections with a stain or dye, and for other purposes. As shown in FIG. 1, conventional systems and methods for mounting specimens onto slides comprise placing tissue sections in a tall Petri dish filled with water; the specimens typically float on the surface of the water. The broad side of a slide is then rested on the rim of the Petri dish and the slide is angled down into the Petri dish such that the slide is partially submersed in the water. Subsequently, a small brush or glass capillary tube is used to manipulate a tissue section onto the slide. Typically, the slide is gradually drawn out of the water as additional tissue sections are arranged on the slide. Oftentimes, tissue is embedded in paraffin wax, sliced with a microtome, and then selected sections of the tissue are transferred to a hot water bath. The hot water bath partially melts the paraffin from around the specimens, and a glass slide treated with adherents is then used to scoop the tissue sections out of the hot water bath; the wax may help the tissue sections adhere to the slide. Conventional methods of mounting specimens on slides are thus difficult, time-consuming, and labor-intensive.
Therefore there is a need in the biological research field for a new system and a new method for mounting specimens onto slides. This invention provides such a system and method.